Experience Delivering Tele-practice Services among Upcoming and Working Professionals of Speech Language Pathology

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, tele-practice has become the new normal in the field of Speech-Language Pathology. Students and professionals throughout the country are embracing this new normal. Both groups confront problems; documentation of the problems may provide insight into how to improve tele-practice services. Aim The purpose of this study was to compare the problems that undergraduate students, postgraduate students, and working professionals in the field of Speech-Language Pathology experience in daily practice. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional survey study using a web-based questionnaire was conducted to examine the obstacles experienced by students and working professionals in the field of speech-language pathology, as well as their perspectives about tele-practice. There was a total of 20 questions. Divided into four sections, closed questions and Likert scale questions were used for demographic details, practice aspects, experience during telerehabilitation, and evaluation and treatment. Results The study had 118 participants (47% postgraduate students, 29% undergraduate students, and 24% professionals). Only 16% of clinicians were properly trained to provide services via tele-mode. All participants reported providing service to the pediatric population to be challenging, with autism spectrum disorder, fluency disorders, and hearing impairment to be difficult to handle cases. In tele-mode, undergraduate students reported a decrease in the number of cases and difficulties selecting therapy materials when compared with the other two groups. All three groups reported a lack of evidence-based teletherapy resources available. There was no difference in perceived difficulty between the three groups while conducting assessment and achieving treatment goals via tele-mode. Conclusion Tele-practice is generally recognized and employed, according to data availability. In terms of resource selection, evaluation, and treatment sessions, the difficulties faced by students and experts are disturbing. In the realm of speech-language pathology, strategies to address these issues could pave the way for tele-practice. As a result, better policies are strongly advised to address these difficulties to improve future tele-mode service quality.